6 Big Winners of the Inaugural YouTube Music Awards

November 4, 2013

By BRIAN ANTHONY HERNANDEZ

Korean pop group Girls' Generation benefitted from YouTube's social voting process for the first-ever YouTube Music Awards, winning Video of the Year over such music heavyweights as Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus and One Direction.

"It still feels surreal," Tiffany of Girls' Generation told media Sunday when asked how it felt to have the group's "I Got a Boy" beat Lady Gaga's " Applause" video. "She was sitting right in front of me. I personally loved her video."

Unlike other awards shows, YouTube bypassed the entertainment experts who normally choose nominees, opting to determine nominees based on musicians' YouTube stats, including video views, Likes, comments and channel subscriptions. Then, the winners were decided by share counts for each artist's nomination video on Facebook, Google+ and Twitter, which essentially showcased which fan bases were the most dedicated. Read more...